Kiss of the Dragon (37 page)

“Hold on, Cynric!”

Draco had never been more terrified in his life as he
watched his brother fall from the back of his half-broken mount when it shied
from a darting hare and disappeared over the side of the bluff. The scream of
terror that broke from his brother’s throat pierced the air and echoed across
the valley before abruptly ending.

Leaping from his saddle, Draco threw himself to the edge of
the precipice bellowing his brother’s name, his heart in his throat nearly
strangling him. His heavy body slid to a halt just short of sliding over the
edge. But at that point, he had no thought for his own safety. His gaze
searched the rocks below expecting to see the broken, smashed body of his young
brother. But to his astonishment, Draco found that a narrow rock ledge jutting
out a short ways below the top of the bluff had interrupted Cynric’s descent.
The sight brought tears of joy to his eyes and Draco had to pause a moment to
wipe his face over his sleeve to clear his vision.

“Cynric.” The word came out a little more than a croak as
Draco’s throat had gone dry in his horror. In his relief, Draco had to admit
that the white frightened face of his younger brother was the most beautiful
thing he had ever seen in his life. For a few moments he could do no more than
take in the sight before his brain began to function properly.

“Are you hurt, little brother? Can you move?”

There was a slight pause before Cynric answered. He moved
slowly, cautiously to a sitting position and then carefully rose to his feet.
“No, I believe that I am unharmed, at least as far as I can tell.” He kept his
gaze on the rock surface above him refusing to look below. Cynric reached up as
high as he could without overbalancing himself from his precarious perch. But
he could find no handholds to help him climb up.

“It looks like you will have to do the rescuing here, big
brother. There is no way I can climb back up.” Cynric was unable to keep the
slight quiver of apprehension from his voice. Draco knew that his brother was
more than a little shaken by the fall but he was attempting to hide it. He reached
his long arms as far down as he could but he knew even without asking that
Cynric was unable to reach him.

“I will have to find something to reach down to you, Cynric.
Do not worry I will have you up in no time.” But when he would have pulled back
from the edge, his brother stopped him.

“Do not leave me, Draco. Not yet. I am…a little scared.
Stay…a bit and t-talk to me. Draco?” The half-sob brought a lump to Draco’s
throat.

“I am here, little brother. I will not leave you until you
say.” As he reassured Cynric, Draco’s mind worked on a solution to the
dangerous situation. He had not come prepared for an emergency such as this and
as he mentally went over the few items he carried on his saddle, a rope was not
among them.

A slight noise at his back had Draco on his feet and drawing
his sword even before he recognized the newcomer. “Bianca?” A sigh of relief
escaped his lips as he watched the small beauty coming toward him. And then
anger replaced his pleasure at seeing her as he realized that she was alone. “What
the hell are you doing here? Have you no sense at all? Where is your escort?”

Draco’s verbal attack was so unexpected that Bianca stopped
and stared at him in disbelief. But instead of letting him see how much his
harshness hurt, she stood a little taller and raised her chin in a show of
defiance.

“I could ask the same of you, my lord, but I would be a
little more civil in my address.” The hurt that she thought to conceal, showed
so obvious on her lovely face and over bright eyes that Draco silently cursed
his harsh words and reached for her.

“Ah, Bianca, I did not mean to snap at you. Your sudden
appearance took me completely unaware.” But even as he placed his hands on her
shoulders to draw her close, his brother’s voice reminded him that there was a
much more pressing matter to deal with a the moment.

“Draco?” At the low call that came from behind Draco, Bianca
gasped and pushed away from him and with an agile move, stepped around him to
move to the edge of the precipice.

“Who is it? Who is down there?” Before he could stop her,
she moved so close to the unsteady edge that he ground beneath her feet began
to crumble. If Draco had not caught hold of her, Bianca would have joined his
brother on the ledge below.

“Damn it, Bianca. Are you trying to kill yourself?” The
heart-arresting sight of her nearly tumbling to her death had him clutching her
to his chest. His embrace threatened to crush her.

“Please, Draco, I cannot breathe.” Her gasping statement had
him loosening his hold on her, but only slightly. Wide, frightened violet eyes
gazed up at him as he lowered his head and he gave her a quick, hard kiss
before he released her and pushed her behind him, away from the edge.

“Stay there while I talk to Cynric.” A look of horror masked
her face as she glanced to the edge of the bluff. “Yea. My brother is down
there. I will explain everything later. For now just stay away from the edge.”
At that command, Draco moved forward to peer below.

Standing precariously upon a tiny ledge, Cynric waited. His
face was ashen and beads of sweat rolled down his temple.

“That damned stallion threw him. He went over the side.” It
was all the explanation Bianca would get for now. Draco set his mind on a way
to get Cynric up. Tentatively, he eased as far over the ledge as was safe and
reached as far down as he could, but it was not enough. The distance was too
great. He would need a rope or a long piece of something. He glanced at the
reins of his stallion and sent up a prayer. The leather strap would work as
well as hemp rope, maybe better.

“Bianca, take my dagger and cut the reins from Inferno’s
bridle and bring it to me.” He drew the weapon and handed it to her. “The strap
should be just about long enough to reach. Hurry.” Even as he instructed her on
what he wanted, he noticed that the fragile rock ledge on which his brother
stood was crumbling beneath his feet. It would be close. “Hurry, Bianca. Be as
quick as possible, he does not have much time.”

Giving a quick nod, Bianca ran to the great black stallion
with every intention of carrying out Draco’s instructions. But Inferno had
other notions. The stallion snorted a warning and stamped his huge hooves as he
danced away from her.

“Here boy, easy now.” She held out her hand and tried to
coax him to accept her but he danced away, shook his great head and snorted in
arrogance, but he would not hold still long enough for her to cut the leather
rein from his bridle. After several moments of such nonsense, Bianca was nearly
in tears.

“Hurry, Bianca, the ledge is disintegrating rapidly. There
is not much time.” Draco’s bellow brought a sob of frustration and terror from
her.

“Please, Inferno, please,” she begged the black stallion but
he ignored her pleas and turned and trotted away to stop beneath the shade of a
tree were he gave her an imperious look before lowering his head and grazing on
the grass.

“You damned beast!” Tears rolled down her face as she stood
helplessly, she turned to go back to the bluff edge empty-handed when a thought
came to her. Then an inspiration came to her and before she could change her
mind, Bianca quickly plaited her long hair as she made her way back to the edge
of the bluff.

“Keep back from the edge, Cynric. It will not be long now.
Bianca has gone to get a length of leather. I will be pulling you up any moment.”

Cynric’s eyes were wide with fear as another piece of the
rapidly disappearing ledge broke loose and fell away. Even as the seconds
ticked by, rock by rock, bit by bit his sanctuary disintegrated. He glanced up
to see Draco’s head and shoulders still visible above him. “Make it soon, big
brother. I fear the end is near.”

Draco heard Bianca’s footsteps behind him and he reached
back for the strap. “I could not get Inferno to stand still long enough to get
the rein, Draco. This is all I have.” She placed a length of rope in his hands
and without pausing to heed her meaning, he lowered the life-saving line down
to his brother’s waiting hands.

Cynric grabbed hold of the lifeline and Draco pulled him up
and over the top in no time at all. He fell into the safe embrace of his older
brother, who nearly strangled him in his enthusiasm of having his baby brother
safe. But then he found himself being shaken until his teeth rattled in his
head.

“What were you thinking, you little rascal?” It took a
moment for Draco’s words to make sense. But when Cynric realized what he was
saying, he could do no more than make weak excuses.

“I just wanted to show you what a great trade I had made.”
He smiled weakly in the face of the fury in his brother’s eyes. “I know it was
foolish to let the stallion take control, but I wanted to see how fast he could
go. How was I to know that the fool horse would shy at a tiny hare?”

“It was irresponsible of you to ride an untried horse with
no thought about the consequences. You could have been killed, Cynric.”

“I am sorry, Draco. But I was assured that the stallion was
but a little spirited.”

“The man lied to you so he could rid himself of a useless
mount and part you from your hard-earned coin. I thought I had taught you
better.”

Draco’s harsh tone was a cover for his true feelings but
still he needed his brother to realize that his poor judgment had caused
serious consequences. Cynric had nearly been killed and the aftermath played
havoc on his emotions. Perhaps with time, Draco would get over the horror of
those moments just after Cynric disappeared over the bluff. Maybe in another
fifty years. For now, all he could think to do was hold Cynric and shake some
sense into him, which he did for several moments before he gave his younger
brother one last, fierce hug and released him. Yea, he was more scared than
angry. Draco took a deep breath and expelled it slowly as he fought to unbend.

“Come, little brother, we will take that dangerous animal
back to this man you traded with and get your horse back and the gold you paid
for the gray.”

“No, Draco. It would not be fair. I made the deal and I will
not go back on it.”

Admiration for his brother’s honor warmed Draco’s dark eyes.
He was forced to admit that his little brother had grown into a worthy man, no
longer needing him to play nursemaid at every turn.

“Very well, Cynric. I will allow you to make this decision.
But you will train the horse properly before you try riding him again, assuming
that you manage to catch him.” It was then that he looked around to discover
that Inferno was nowhere to be seen. Nor was Bianca’s palfrey.

“Bianca, where did you leave your…?” But he did not finish
his statement as his gaze fell on her. It took a moment for him to recover but
when he did, it was with a vengeance and a very loud shout.

“God Almighty! What have you done? What happened to your
hair?”

Her beautiful blue-black locks, which had cascaded down her
back to just below her knees had been shorn so short that it hung in a cloud of
curls just past her shoulders.

At his startled exclamation, Bianca froze for a moment
before she raised a trembling hand to sift it through the mass of curls framing
her face. A sense of loss suddenly filled her as she became aware of the
missing weight of the mane of hair that had only a short time ago had brushed
the backs of her calves.

“Inferno ran away when I tried to get the leather strap off
him and you needed a rope…but there was none…” Her words came out slower and
slower, nearly gagging her as she realized what she had done. She shrugged her
shoulders when her voice gave out and tears darkened her sad eyes as she stared
at something in Draco’s hand.

Draco looked down and found that he was still clutching the
rope she had given him to save his brother’s life. He had never felt such pride
or such humility at the sacrifice this small, beautiful woman had just made to
save a man’s life. No female he knew would have ever done such a thing. But his
beautiful Bianca had, without hesitation, willingly cut off her lovely hair to
save his brother. The notion took his breath away and his chest swelled out
with gladness.

After a moment of perusing Bianca’s shorn head Draco turned
his attention to her face and found that silent tears streamed down her cheeks
as she watched him with anxious eyes, waiting for his denunciation.

“I am sorry I have disappointed you, Draco. But there was
nothing else I could do. It is only hair, after all, it will grow
back…eventually.”

It was a plea for understanding and before she could say
more, she found herself engulfed in his huge arms, crushed to his massive
chest. He placed a kiss on the top of her head as he murmured, “I know it will,
sweetheart.”

“Then why are you so angry?” Her voice was heavy with tears.

“I am not angry, Bianca. How could I be at such an unselfish
act? You saved my brother’s life, for God’s sake. For that I will always be
grateful.”

“Oh! And what think you of my…hair?” She could barely bring
herself to say it.

“The length of your hair matters naught. Your beauty lies
deeper than your outer appearance, Bianca.” Draco placed a finger beneath her
chin when she refused to look at him, and raised her face. “You are more
beautiful to me at this moment than I can say. You have courage and
selflessness that most would never understand.” He tapped her chest with his
finger. “In here. And, in here.” He moved his hand to her head where he thrust
his fingers through her soft shining curls. “You are lovelier to me than you
will ever know.” And then his mouth covered hers and he kissed her deeply showing
her just how much he meant his words.

They were so lost in the passion that threatened to engulf
them that they forgot where they were until Cynric discreetly cleared his
throat to remind them that he was standing only a few feet away watching them.
Draco ended the kiss but held Bianca close in his arms for a moment more as he
glanced at Cynric, who sported a brilliant color of crimson upon his cheeks.